2nd games at least had the best stories, red/blue rescue teams you were kind of just dicking around until the whole banishment arc comes up.

Explorers feel like they've got more of a point to them, even if they end up feeling less open-ended for it (Though post-graduation you are decidedly just dicking around for an extended period of time, so what do I know?)

Those games are fun as hell though, they feel a lot more strategic than normal pokemon games.